Day 3 was a heavy family day. It began with the greetings of the season!

In the video, you can see little Rachel standing in the background, peeking at what Richard is doing. Richard was trying to get the kettle going in our hotel room.

You know it's going to be a good year when this fellow shows up!

We ambitiously aimed for dim sum at Foh San in Jalan Leong Sin Nam, the oldest and most famous dim sum establishment in Ipoh. We tried to get in when we were last in Ipoh, in July, but we weren't successful then. It was not meant to be, I guess, because it was just as packed this time. We ended up where we ended up last time - next door! Which was good enough for us. The amazing thing about Ipoh is that good food is more or less the default.

Here's Ryan having the roast pork bun (just the bread, not the pork). He's hanging on to a packet of sponge-y letters and numbers which we bought from the "pasar malam" outside Lou Wong the night before. They were selling 3 packets for RM10, so we picked up 3. Ryan was overjoyed. Later down in this post, you can see what he did with all those pieces!

After that, we gathered over at Uncle Daniel's house. My mother and brother were putting up there for the week. It is also the usual Chinese New Year gathering place for all in the family and when the rest had arrived, we all drove over to Uncle Peter's place in Tambun, at the foot of the limestone hills.

As usual, there was good food, mahjong for the experts and cards for the rest. My brother took the banker's seat for blackjack and drew double aces three times, so he cleaned up the table.

My mum is holding Rachel in the photo above. In the photo below, you can see that everyone's mouth is full of food! Except for my brother - he is busy "eating on the table".

Ryan and the non-gamblers found more innovative ways to entertain themselves.

Later that evening, we all congregated at a Chinese restaurant for our reunion dinner. We were three tables full and the mood was merry and happy.

Ryan brought his purple Angry Bird balloon to show everyone. He said he wanted to play hide and seek with me so I told him, sure, as long as he stayed inside the room and as long as he kept his balloon with him. He chose to hide in plain sight.

Well, maybe he thought that, as long as he closed his eyes, I might not be able to see him?

We had some karaoke action going on, with my uncles chipping in here and there. Ryan sang his first karaoke song too! It was Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years". I don't think he knows the melody but he was able to read the lyrics on the screen, so everyone gave him the thumbs up.

Rachel was very much in demand and was passed around from table to table.

It was a good day. Although we come back only once a year to Ipoh, it is an opportunity which we cherish deeply and which we never take for granted. To know that wherever we go, however far we venture, however long we stay away, we can always come home to our loved ones - that's the kind of fuel that keeps us going.